Hydraulic door operators



Nov. 3, 1959 H. w. FERGUSON HYDRAULIC DOOR OPERATORS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 25, 1955 l'l'll HAROLD WFEPGUSON A ORNEY6 Nov. 3, 1959 H. w. FERGUSON 2,911,210

' HYDRAULIC DOOR OPERATORS Filed Nov. 25, 1955 s Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Nov. 3, 1959 H. w. FERGUSON HYDRAULIC D0012 OPERATORS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 25, 1955 F/GG INVENTOR HAROLD W FERGUSON ATTORNEYS United States Patent ice 2,911,210 HYDRAULIC DOOR OPERATORS lI-Iarold W. Ferguson, New Britain, Conn., assignor. to V The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application November 25, 1955, Serial No; 549,063

' 8 Claims. Cl. 268-66 This invention relates to improvements in hydraulic *do or operators.

One object of this invention is to. provide a novel and "improved door operator-for actuating doors ,which may be arranged selectively to open the door in either direction and which may be adjusted to produce similar operation 'in either direction.

pointed outmore in detail hereinafter.

vious,a'iid in part The invention accordingly consists'in thefeatures of construction, combination of elements andarraugement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

' In the accompanying drawings: H 7 r I Fig. l is a plan view of a door operator constructed in accordance with the present invention in completely assembled condition; i

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of the operator -'Qf Fig. l with the cover thereof .removed,'. andshowing the internal mechanism thereof; I v

Fig. 3 is a'longitudinal vertical sectional view of the portion of the operator shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4is an enlarged fragmentary View of the underside of the cover with certain of the operating parts attached thereto;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse sectionalviewftaken on line 55 of Big. 2; and

pistonand cylinder of the operator. 7 I

The door operator of the present invention is of the hydraulically actuated and governed, and spring returned, type. Referringto the drawings, 'a door opera'tor'fconlstructed in accordance with the invention includes a hous- 1 "ing 2 which is. adapted to be "recessed into the floor'beneath the door and within which is received an inner casring 4 which contains all of the operator mechanism. The

inner casingis closed bya cover 6 arranged to be flush so Fig. 6 is a fragmentarysectional view 'of a hydraulic with the floor and sealed by a gasket 8. The inner casing 4' is of shorter length than the housing 2 and the remainder of the housing 2 has a separate .cover 3 ,to

permit access to the fluid connectionsof inner casing The housing 2 has access openings (not shown) for receiving the usual fluid pressure and drain lines, Hydraulic fluid for powering the operator is received through an inletbushin'g 10 at one end-of the casing, and returned by overflow through an outlet bushing 12 which is suificiently spaced above the bottom of the casing; to main tain the casing substantially filled with fluid-' In order 2,911,219 Patented Nov. 3, 1959 to prevent bursting of the inner casing which might occur if fluid at operating pressure were inadvertently intro duced through the bushing 12, a ball 13 is located in the bushing to permit fluid flow outwardly of the casing, only.

Projecting through the cover at the other end of the casing is a vertical spindle 14 on which the door is adapted to be mounted. The spindle is rotatably supported in a bearing 16 in the cover and a thrust bearing 18 in the bottom of the casing. A spring loaded seal 20 for bearing 16 is retained between the seal 20 and a below the bearing 16 prevents leakage of hydraulic fluid through the cover spindle opening. The lubricant supply lubricant seal above bearing 16 which is covered by a dust seal 22 toprevent the entrance of dirt or foreign matter.

The portion of the spindle within the casing is formed with a hydraulic crank having a radially extending nose portion 24 normally aligned with the longitudinal axis of the casing in the closed door position of the spindle, and oppositely extending radial arms 26, 28 angularly spaced approximately from the nose portion. As can be seen from Fig. 2 when the spindle 14 is rotated the ends ing the door is applied selectively to one of the cylinders, depending on which direction it is desired to have the doorppen, and the other cylinder is utilized tocheck the door openingmovement hydraulically. Door closing movement is checked hydraulically by the same cylinder to which hydraulic power is applied to open the .door. The embodiment of the operator shown in the drawings is connected to open the door in a right-hand direction, i.e., to rotate the spindle clockwise as viewed in Fig. 2; and therefore cylinder 38 is the one to which hydraulic power is applied. To this end cylinder 38 is connected by a bushing 44 having an inwardly opening check valve 46 and a hydraulic conduit 48 to a pressurized hydraulic fluid manifold 50 in the casing supplied through the inlet bushing. The opening in cylinder 36 corresponding to bushing 44 is closed by a plug 52. Alternatively, when door opening movement in a left-hand direction is desired, the hydraulic fluid is applied to cylinder 36 and theoutlet from cylinder 38 is closed.

The manifold 50 is equipped with a flow control needle valve 54 which facilitates equalizing hydraulic pressure between two or more door operators supplied from a single hydraulic fluid source. The needle valve 54 also enables: the manifold to be shut 01f completely when desiredfthereby facilitating the change-over of hydraulic conduit 48 between cylinder 38 and cylinder, 36 when it is desired to reverse the opening direction of the door. A lock consisting'of a spring clip 56 attached to the manifold and frictionally engageable with needle valve 54 secures the needle valve in adjusted position, while convenient access may be had to adjust the valve through a removableplug 58 in the cover immediately above it.

Piston 42 is connected to the arm 28 of the hydraulic crankby a connecting rod 60 attached to the piston wrist pin between equalizing springs 62 which prevent binding.-

The connecting rod 60 may be fastened to arm 28 at either of two pins, one pin 64 being spaced from the longitudinal c enter line of the arm in the direction of the piston 42 and the other pin 66 being spaced on the opposite side of the arm center line. A similar connecting rod 68 extends from piston 40 to one of two pins 70, 72 on crank arm 26. When the door is to be opened in a right-hand direction, as shown, rod 60 is connected to pin 64 and rod 68 is connected to pin 70, and when the door is to be opened in a left-hand direction these connections are reversed. This arangement enables greater door opening torque to be developed on the spindle during the initial phase of door opening movement While enabling greater door checking torque to be developed on the spindle during the final portion of door opening movement, and also facilitates opposite rotation of the door manually during an emergency. To permit manual operation of the door in the event of a failure of hydraulic power, each piston has a bypass passage 74 as shown in Fig. 6 containing an inwardly opening ball check valve 76.

The nose portion 24 of the hydraulic crank carries a pair of screw adjustable limit stops '78, 80 arranged to engage respective bosses 82, 84 on the side of the casing to imit spindle rotation and door opening movement in both directions.

Door closing movement is produced by one or the other of a pair of torsion springs 90, 92 disposed with theiraxis vertical and spaced along the longitudinal axis of the casing. Spring 90 is hooked at its lower end to a 7 lower carrier plate 94 pinned to a spring post 96 rotatably supported in the bottom of the casing, andthe upper end of the spring is hooked to an upper carrier plate 98 rotatably supported on the post. Spring 90 is connected to the spring crank lever 32 by a tension link 100 and a pair of toggle links 102, 104. Spring 92 is similarly mounted and is connected to the spring crank lever 30 by a tension link 106 and a pair of toggle links 108, 110. To prevent operation of more than one spring at a time, links 104, 116 engage respective shoulders 112, 114 on the spring crank, so that each pair of toggle links effectively transmits tension force but collapses and serves as a lost motion connection when subjected to compression force. It can be seen from Fig. 2 that the crank levers 30', 32 are so disposed relative to the pivotal axis of the spindle and each other that they effectively form members oppositely movable relative to the tension links 106, 160 to drive the toggle links 110, 104 in opposite directions when the spindle is rotated. To permit adjustment of the bias of the springs 90, 92, each spring post is socketed at its upper end to receive a wrench by which the spring post may be rotated to wind its spring and irrcrease the torsion thereof. Each spring post carries a ratchet wheel 116 which engages a corresponding pawl 118 mounted on the under side of the cover to lock the spring post in adjusted position. Removable plugs 120, 122 in the cover afford convenient access to the sockets in the upper ends of the spring posts and removable plugs 121, 123 provide access to the ratchet pawls 118 to permit selective reduction-of the torsion in the springs To permit limited angular adjustment of the spindle 14 to properly center the door at its closed position, adjustable stops are provided to limit the movement of the links 16%, 106. The stops are identical and, as best shown in Fig. 4, each includes a cam 124- pivotally mount ed on a bracket 126 secured to the underside of the cover and engageable with a roller 128 on the end of the ad jacent link. Each cam has a crank portion 131 received between the opposed ends of a pair of jack screws132, 134- threadably mounted in the bracket, and each'ja'ck screw has a plurality of angularly spaced radial bores 136 in its head adapted to receive an adjusting pin by which the screws may be turned to rotate the cam. Removable plugs 138, 141} in the cover provide convenient access for adjusting the jack screws.

As previously explained, both opening and closing movements of the door are checked hydraulically, and to provide a variable checking force each cylinder is equipped with a set of bleed ports 144, 146, 148, open- 4 ing through a respective passage 150 into the interior of the casing and spaced along the cylinder wall so as to be progressively covered by the piston as it travels toward the closed end of the cylinder. With this arrangement, in the embodiment shown door opening is checked by piston 40 and door closing is checked by piston 42, each checking force progressively increasing as the ports are successively covered. The bleed ports are equipped with adjustable bleed valves 152 each having a threaded stern 154 extending above the cylinder block and slotted to permit adjustment by a screw driver or the like. Immediately above the bleed valves the cover is provided with a removable access plug 156 which permits convenient adjustment of the valves. The several bleed valves are arranged in pairs side by side and between each pair an adjustable spring lock 158 is secured to the cylinder block 34 and arranged to frictionally engage and lock the valves in adjusted position.

It will be apparent that the door operator construc-. tion above described has several advantageous features.

First, the operator is relatively simplified and rugged inconstruction, capable of performing dependably for long periods without attention. Also, the operator may be readily switched from operation of a right-hand opening door to operation of a left-hand opening door with a minimum of effort, simply by switching the connec-' tion of the hydraulic manifold 50 from cylinder 38 to cylinder 36, and shifting the connecting rods 100, 106 from pins 64 and 70 to pins 66 and 72. Additionally, the operator has a number of adjustable members, such as the bleed valves 152, the spring posts 96, and the centering cams 124, which afiord a considerable degree of adjustment and flexibility of operation. Moreover, convenient access maybe had to'these several adjustable members simply by. removing the proper access plugs from the cover, yet when the plugs are in place the cover presents a completely sn'iooth fluid tight surface flush with the floor and entirely free of any projecting parts except the spindle.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodi ments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown inthe accompanying drawings shall be. interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover' all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

spring crank, the toggle linkages forming oppositely related on'e way driving connections between the springs and spring cranks, a pair of oppositely movable hydraulic crank arms on the spindle, adjustable stop means mounted on sa1d spindle to limit rotation thereof, a hydraulic cylinder associated with each hydraulic crank arm, a piston 1n each cylinder, a connecting rod connecting each piston to a respective crank arm, means forming a source of pressurized hydraulic fluid, means connecting said source to a selected one of said cylinders to displace the piston therein and cause spindle rotation in a selected direction, and bleed ports in each cylinder opening intosaid casing and through which hydraulic fluid may be discharged at a controlled rate to check the rotation of said spindle in both said selected direction and the opposite direction. 7

' means connecting the other end of each spring to the casing, a plate rotatably mounted in the casing and connected to said other end of each spring, means forming a wrench receiving aperture in each of said plates by which the plate may be selectively rotated, a ratchet locking said plate in rotatably adjusted position, and a removable access plug in the cover in registry with said wrench receiving aperture.

3. In a door operator having a casing including a cover, a spindle rotatably supported in the casing for attachment to a door, hydraulic means for rotating the spindle in one direction away from a closed-door position, a spring for urging the spindle toward its closeddoor position and a linkage connecting the spring and spindle, means for adjusting the closed-door position of the spindle comprising a stop movably mounted in the casing and disposed in the path of movement of said linkage by said spring, a screw jack for adjusting the position of said stop having a shank threadably received in a bracket mounted in the casing and a wrench receiving head engageable with the stop, and a removable access plug in the cover opposite said head providing an opening through which a wrench may be applied to said head.

4. In a door operator having a casing; including a cover, a spindle rotatably supported in the casing for attachment to a door, hydraulic means for rotating the spindle in one direction away from a closed-door position, a spring for urging the spindle toward its closeddoor position, and a linkage connecting the spring and spindle, means for adjusting the closed-door position of the spindle comprising a stop rotatably mounted in the casing and having an eccentric cam portion disposed in the path of movement of said linkage by said spring, a screw jack for adjusting the position of said stop, said jack having a shank disposed parallel to said cover and threadably received in a bracket mounted inthe casing and a head engageable with the stop, said head having wrench receiving bores normal to said shank, and a removable access plug in the cover opposite said head providing an opening through which a wrench may be applied to said head.

5. In a door operator, an elongate casing adapted to be substantially filled with hydraulic fluid and havinga removable cover gasketed. thereon to form a leak-proof container, a spindle attachable to a door and rotatably supported. in the casing at one end thereof, a pair of oppositely extending hydraulic cranks and a pair of angularly-spaced spring cranks on said spindle, a pair of longitudinally-spaced opposed torsion springs in the casing, a rotatable anchor connecting one end of each spring to the casing, a linkage forming a one way-driving connection between the other end of each spring and a respective spring crank whereby said springsbias said spindle to a closed-door position, a ratchet wheel on each of said anchors, a ratchet pawl on said cover engaging said ratchet wheel, eachof said anchors having a wrench-receiving adjustable member by which the bias of the spring connected thereto maybe varied, a closeddoor position adjusting stop having an eccentric cam portion disposed in thepath of movement of each linkage by the spring connected thereto and a screw jack including a wrench-receiving member for adjusting the position of said cam portion, a cylinder block forming a pair of side-by-side' hydrauliccylinders mounted inthe casing opposite said spindle, pistons in said cylinders and connecting rods connecting said pistons to said opposite hydraulic cranks whereby said pistons move in opposite directions during rotation of said spindle, a one-way valve in each piston permitting fluid flow from the nonworking side to the working side of the piston, an inlet manifold in the casing adapted to be connected to a source of pressurized hydraulic fluid, an outlet fitting in the casing having a one way valve adapted to be connected to a fluid return line, a high-pressure hydraulic conduit connecting said inlet manifold to a selected one of said cylinder, a one-way valve in each cylinder connectable to said hydraulic conduit to prevent fluid flow from the cylinder into said hydraulic conduit, bleed ports spaced along the walls of each of said cylinders and opening into the interior of said casing whereby the cylinder not supplied by said conduit provides hydraulic checking of door-opening movement and said one cylinder provides hydraulic checking of door-closing movement, adjustable flow-control valves in said bleed ports and manifold, and removable access plugs in said cover, opposite said flow-control valves, wrench-receiving mem- 'bers, and ratchet pawls.

6. In a door operator, a casing, a rotatable spindle journaled in the casing for attachment to a door and rotatable in either direction from a door-closed position, a pair of hydraulic cylinders in the casing, a piston slidably mounted in each cylinder, means for admitting hydraulicfluid under pressure to one end of a selected one of the cylinders to move the piston therein in one direction away from said one end of the cylinder, each of said cylinders having a restricted orifice for releasing hydraulic fluid during return movement of the piston toward said one end of the cylinders, driving means connecting the piston of said one of the cylinders to the pintle for turning the pintle in one door-opening direction responsive to movement of the piston in said one direction and for returning the piston during reverse movement of the spindle in a door-closing direction, driving means connecting the piston of the other of said cylinders to the spindle for movement in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the piston of said one of the cylinders responsive to turning movement of the spindle, a pair of return springs in the casing, and a lost-motion connection between each spring and the spindle for loading one of the springs when the pintle is moved in one door-opening direction and for loading the other spring when the pintle is'moved in the other door-opening direction.

7. In a door operator, a casing, a rotatable spindle journaled in the casing for attachmentto a door and rotatable in either direction from a door-closed position, a first and second hydraulic cylinder in the casing having an inlet at one end thereof for receiving pressurized fluid, a piston slidably mounted in each cylinder, conduit means for admitting hydraulic fluid under pres sure to said one end of the firstvcylinder to move the piston therein from a starting position adjacent said one end of the cylinder, each of said cylinders having a restricted orifice for releasing hydraulic fluid during move ment of the piston toward said one end of the cylinder, driving means connecting the piston of the first cylinder to the pintle for turning the pintle in one door-opening direction responsive to movement of the piston away from said starting position and for returning the piston to said starting position during reverse turning of the pintle in a door-closing direction, driving means connecting the piston of the second cylinder to the spindle for movement in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the piston of the first cylinder, said lastnamed piston having a starting position adjacent the end of the cylinder opposite from said one end, a pair of return springs in the casing, a lost-motion connection between each spring and the spindle for loading one of the springs when the pintle is moved in one door-opening direction and for loading the other spring when the 'pintle is moved in the other door-opening direction, means for connecting said conduit means to the said one end of the second cylinder, and means for reversing the starting positions of the pistons.

8. The mechanism set forth in claim 7 wherein the driving connections between the pistons and the spindle include a crank arm on the spindle and a connecting arm secured to each of the pistons and wherein the means for reversing the starting positions'of the pistons comprises References Cited in the file of this patent.

NITED" STATES PATENTS Fleischer Feb. 3; 1925 Bergeron June 16, 1925 Vander Veer et al. Aug. 5, 1952 Meyerholz Apr. 27, 1954 Carlson Mar. 27, 1956 Ferguson et a1. Oct. 22, 

